PROCESS
House Bill 6287
Sponsor: Rep. Ted Wallace
Committee: Judiciary
Complete to 11-11-98
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 6287 AS INTRODUCED 11-10-98
The bill would amend the Revised Judicature Act to change the procedures for the creation of juror lists. For trials that begin before January 1, 2000, jurors would continue to be selected by the jury board from a list that combines the driver's license list and the personal identification cardholder list. For trials that began on or after January 1, 2000, jurors would be selected by the jury board from the statewide qualified voter file established under the Michigan Election Law (MCL 168.509o).
Beginning in 1999, the secretary of state would be required to provide each county clerk with a full, current, and accurate copy of the statewide qualified voter file for persons residing in that county. The list would have to be transmitted annually before April 15 of each year. The secretary of state could also provide the statewide qualified voter file to any federal, state, or local government agency for the purpose of jury selection and could do so on an electronically produced medium, if the agency so requested.
In addition, each county's jury board could attempt to ensure that all areas of the county were proportionately represented on the first jury list by way of an exception to the existing requirement that individuals placed on the first jury list be selected through a random process. The board could, for example, select a greater number of names from areas that typically have been under represented in jury pools or replace undeliverable or unanswered questionnaires from under represented areas with names from those same areas. Any techniques that the board employed would have to first be approved by the chief circuit judge for that county.
Finally, the bill would also delete a number of obsolete provisions whose effectiveness expired on December 31, 1986.
MCL 600.1304 et al.
Analyst: W. Flory